Shamrocks intentions never hard to Reid: TJ
TJ REID insists it’s business as usual as Ballyhale Shamrocks close in on a perfect 10 of AIB Leinster senior club titles.
With bookies predicting a comfortable win for the All-ireland holders and pundits in agreement, St Mullin’s will be praying the Kilkenny kingpins aren’t fully tuned in.
But Hurler of the Year nominee Reid (inset) is showing no signs of throttling down with 2-14 from him alone in the semi-final win over St Martin’s.
And Henry Shefflin’s crew seem as driven as ever to succeed with that win over St Martin’s the club’s 15th in 17 Leinster outings since their breakthrough Kilkenny title in 2006.
Reid said: “You have St Mullin’s who beat Cuala who were the favourites to win Leinster.
“We treat every team with great respect – if you don’t you can get caught. So we don’t do that. Look, we probably will be favourites but we’ll take them on and just focus on ourselves.
“We don’t put too much energy into the opposition anyway because that can drain a team.
“We’re always focusing on our team and what we can do right and that’s about getting quick ball into Eoin Cody, Colin Fennelly and Eoin Reid because they’re just fantastic in front of goal.
“Colin’s performance against St Martin’s is a case in point. In the firsthalf, he wasn’t involved in the game but he was moved from the corner into full-forward and you saw how much damage he did in there.”
Ballyhale will definitely have to make at least one change from their last outing.
Reid’s brother, wing-back Richie, left the day after that win for a tour of duty in Lebanon with the Defence Forces.
Young Hurler of the Year Adrian Mullen also suffered a dead leg in the semi-final though is expected to be fit.